All of the music selections presented here are from my personal collection of 78's. To listen to an individual selection, simply click on the record label.

Black
and tan fantasie (Ellington & Miley)

Duke Ellington
& his Orchestra - HMV B.4869 - 40-3797

Recorded
New York, November 3, 1927. Edward Kennedy
Ellington was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington DC,
the son of a butler. He made his début in 1916. In the
early '20s he went with his band to New York. Later in
the '20s, trumpeter Bubber Miley (who co-wrote 'Black and
Tan Fantasie') invented the band's 'jungle style.' It was
his 'freak' trumpet playing that attracted attention to
the records of the band recorded in 1927 and afterward. A
month after this recording, Ellington's band opened at
New York's Cotton Club on 4th December. They stayed here
until 1932 and achieved such success that when they
toured Europe for the first time in 1933 they were
already the most famous band in the world. The rest is
history. Enjoy Ellington's stride-piano solo and notice
how the record ends with a brief quote from Chopin's
'Funeral March'. Click on the picture to see an
enlargement of the band in the Cotton Club at the end of
1927.

My
baby left me (Arthur Crudup)

Elvis Presley - RCA
5/1 G2 WB 1231 - 20 6540

Recorded
RCA Studios, New York, January 30, 1956. This
one's for everyone who knows every Elvis song by heart -
but who hasn't heard how pure The King sounds on a 78 RPM
record from a '50s jukebox (listen to that record needle
hitting the groove!) Elvis Aaron Presley (born Jan.
8,'35) was still a rising star early 1956. He made his TV
début on The Dorsey Brothers Show on January 28, 1956
(photo). Two days later, Elvis recorded this song in 9
takes in the same session, as "Blue Suede
Shoes", between 11 am and 2 pm. He was accompanied
by Scotty Moore (guitar), Bill Black (bass), D.J. Fontana
(drums) and Shorty Long (piano).

Recorded in
Berlin, September 22, 1941. Thanks to my record
collection, I meet nice people online from time to time.
Because I didn't know anything about this particular
record, I asked for information in an internet newsgroup.
Courtesy of Georg Richter in Germany and Dimitri
Marheineke in Holland, I can inform you about Adolf
Steimel (Berlin, Oct.12,1907), a musician who worked at
first in the clothing trade and, besides this, also
studied mathematics. But finally his passion for music
conquered all. He started his musical career as a
pianist, arranger and substitute bandleader in various
orchestras. He got his big chance at the end of '39 when
he and Michael Jary were assigned to put new life into
the Odeon dance orchestra. This meant that two men
created two different orchestras with one line-up.
Steimel's orchestra soon became very popular. Two things
are remarkable about this recording. First of all, one
can say that the band 'swings' more or less, in spite of
the tight rules by Goebbels 'Reichsmusikkammer.' The
other special thing are the many Dutch-sounding names in
the line-up, although Holland and Germany were then at
war with each other: Rinis van den Broek, Louis de Haes,
Tip Tischelaar, Benny de Weille, Benny Pauwels and Harry
van Dijk.

Recorded in
Hilversum, The Netherlands, April 11, 1956. A street urchin
sings (with a typical Amsterdam accent!) in the early
'50s about the old sight of 'school patrols':
"Kaasjager heit tot zijn dienders gezeit: het
verkeer heit weinig heren" (Kaasjager said to his
constables: in traffic you won't find many real
gentlemen). H.A.G.J. Kaasjager was chief commissioner of
the Amsterdam Police Department from 1945 until 1956. His
term of office ran parallel with the flourishing period
of the 'school patrols,' (US 'crossing guards,' UK
'lollipop ladies') which were introduced in Amsterdam on
October 27, 1947. The idea for the 'klaarover' (school
patrol) came from the US; older children helping the
little ones to cross the street. They could be recognized
by the white belt and the sign (sunny side up). After
1962 these disappeared from the streets, due to the
introduction of pedestrian traffic lights. Later Kobus
had his own fish trade in Amstelveen.
Please
click on the picture to see more images of Chief
Commissioner Kaasjager, together with Mayor d'Ailly,
during the installation of the 100th school patrol of
Amsterdam on October 27, 1950.

Recorded
May 7, 1941. This song was recorded for the 20th
Century Fox film "Sun Valley Serenade," which
featured the famous ice skater Sonja Henie and (of
course) the Glenn Miller band. On this song you hear the
lovely voice of Paula Kelly (1920-1992), as the lead
singer of the Modernaires vocal group; her husband, Hal
Dickinson, was founder-leader. She had joined Miller and
the Modernaires early in 1941, and sang classics such as
"Chattanooga Choo Choo." Later in the year she
left Miller and sang with Artie Shaw for a while. In the
mid '40s she rejoined the Modernaires and stayed with
them until she retired in 1978.
Click here for the original sheet music of "I know why".